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Comparative Study
. 2010 Dec;28(4):237-41.
doi: 10.3109/02813432.2010.514138. Epub 2010 Sep 7.

Who receives anticoagulant treatment with warfarin and why? A population-based study in Finland

Irma Virjo  1 , Kari Mäkelä, Juhani Aho, Pentti Kalliola, Harri Kurunmäki, Leena Uusitalo, Markku Valli, Suvi Ylinen
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Who receives anticoagulant treatment with warfarin and why? A population-based study in Finland

Irma Virjo et al. Scand J Prim Health Care. 2010 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To ascertain the age and gender distribution of patients receiving anticoagulant (AC) treatment with warfarin, and to establish the prevalence of AC treatment and its indications among the Finnish population.

Design: A cross-sectional study in which the patients were identified from the patient records of health centres.

Setting: Primary health care in the Hospital District of South Ostrobothnia in Finland.

Patients: Those inhabitants of 15 municipalities in the study area who received AC treatment with warfarin on 1 April 2004. The total number of inhabitants was 132 621 at the end of 2003.

Main outcome measures: Patient age and gender distributions, the prevalence of AC treatment in the study area, and indications for AC treatment.

Results: Altogether 2389 patients were identified, 51.4% of them men. The mean age of the patients was 72.4 years. The prevalence of AC treatment was 1.8%; when age-adjusted to match the Finnish population it was 1.64%. The proportion of men receiving AC treatment was higher than that of women in all age groups. Atrial fibrillation (AF) was the most common main (60.2%) and second (7.2%) indication for AC treatment.

Conclusion: Compared with Finnish figures 12 years earlier the prevalence of AC treatment has more than doubled, and the proportion of AF among indications has increased from 47% to 67%. New current care guidelines on AF and the increasing proportion of the elderly among the population are probable explanations.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Prevalence of AC treatment in the population of 15 municipalities in South Ostrobothnia as at 1 April 2004 by five-year age groups and gender. (For men 95 years and older the prevalence was 31%.)
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Proportion of patients who had atrial fibrillation and AC treatment in the population of 15 municipalities in South Ostrobothnia as at 1 April 2004 in five-year age groups by gender.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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